More Japanese schoolgirls having sex than boys (Agencies) Updated: 2005-02-22 14:53

More Japanese high school girls are having sex than boys, even though girls
express more regret about losing their virginity, a survey found.

Some 39 per cent of girls and 30 per cent of boys in their final year of high
school said they had had sex, according to a survey of some 10,000 high school
students by a federation of parent-teacher associations.

Among students in their first year of high school, which has three years in
Japan, 15 per cent of girls and 12 per cent of boys had had sex, the survey
said.

While nearly 60 per cent of boys said they were "glad with the experience,"
only 40 per cent of girls responded positively, it said.

The survey found that girls who had few conversations with their parents were
more likely to have sex than girls who enjoyed close family relations.

"Amid an influx of information on sex, the students have been prodded to have
sex and ended up feeling confusion and regret," said Masako Kihara, an assistant
professor of social epidemiology at Kyoto University.

Sexuality is little hidden in much of urban Japan, with pornography easily
accessible and sexual services overtly advertised.

A 1999 government survey showed some 13 per cent of high school girls have
been paid by older men for dates or sex.